Watch: Tour de France stage 21 highlights

Chris Froome secured his third Tour de France victory – and Team Sky’s fourth in five years – after finishing safely with the main bunch in Paris on the 2016 race’s final stage.

Froome topped the podium, with Romain Bardet (Ag2r) in second and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in third. Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) finished in fourth to claim the best young rider category, a first for a British rider.

Having spent the previous 20 stages without a win, German André Greipel (Lotto-Soudal) left the best until last, cruising to victory for the second consecutive year on the Champs Élysées.

Tour de France stage 20 highlights

Chris Froome crossed the finish line of stage 20 of the Tour de France in touching distance of his GC rivals to all but guarantee he will stand on the top step of the podium in Paris on Sunday.

The Team Sky rider’s only worry on the day was slipping off in the rain, as downpours lashed the peloton and made the descents even more treacherous. His rivals, though, were happy to maintain the status quo on the general classification, with the only attacks made within the last 500m gain a handful of seconds.

Tour de France stage 19 highlights

The antepenultimate stage of the 2016 Tour de France was a thoroughly exciting day for the peloton and fans alike.

Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) won the stage after going solo. The win also gave him enough of a time gap to jump from fifth to second in the overall.

Froome lost a negligible amount of time and stays well ahead of his challengers but Mollema slipped from second to 10th overall after he lost his way on a descent and could not close the gap to the GC group.

Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) didn’t cope too well on the final climb and slipped off the podium as a result. He could reclaim that step on stage 20 but it may be a huge ask considering the energy he’s extended up to now.

Tour de France stage 18 highlights

On paper, the 2016 Tour de France‘s stage 18 mountain time trial could have provided the platform for a complete overhaul of the general classification.

However, in the event, race leader Chris Froome (Sky) used the opportunity to show his overall rivals why he is in the yellow jersey. Froome dealt a major blow to anyone hoping to claw back time on him by winning the stage – his second of the race – by a convincing 21-second margin over TT specialist Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).

Although Froome increased his margin at the top, there was no change to the top six overall. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) is still second, with Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) in third. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) moved closer to a podium spot, but still looked off his best climbing form.

With just two days left in the Alps, time is running out for Froome’s rivals to make their mark on the race.

Tour de France stage 16 highlights

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) struck again on stage 16 of the 2016 Tour de France as the race headed into Switzerland. Race leader Chris Froome (Sky) finished in the reduced peloton just behind Sagan to safely retain his position at the top of the general classification going into the race’s second rest day.

Tour de France stage 15 highlights

Jarlinson Pantano (IAM Cycling) won stage 15 from a breakaway as Chris Froome maintained his lead at the top of the general classification.

Fabio Aru (Astana) was the only one of Froome’s rivals to stage an attack on the mountainous route, with the likes of Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Richie Porte (BMC) saving their legs for another day.

Pantano beat Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) on the line to take his first Tour de France victory and give the folding IAM their second stage win in as many Grand Tours.

Tour de France stage 13 highlights

Froome put in a perfectly measured ride to finish over two minutes ahead of climbing rival Nairo Quintana (Movistar). He now sits ahead of Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) overall by 1-47, with Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) in third at 2-45.

Froome may have got the better of his GC rivals, but Dumoulin was in a class of his own in the hilly test against the clock, finishing over a minute ahead of Froome.

Initially, Froome lost the race lead to fellow British rider Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) but the race jury decided to nullify the time losses experienced by riders as a direct result of the incident. He was put back in the yellow jersey and actually extended his lead over Yates.

Meanwhile, Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) took the stage victory from the day’s escape group to lead the King of the Mountains classification.

Tour de France stage 11 highlights

Peter Sagan took his second stage win of the 2016 Tour de France with the win on stage 11. The stage didn’t go how the other sprinters were planning, though. The mostly flat stage was characterised by crosswinds, and the bunch was forced to form echelons and chase splits.

The big move of the day came when Sagan and Tinkoff teammate Maciej Bodnar rode off the front of the bunch, and were then joined by Team Sky duo Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas.

The yellow jersey gained just 12 seconds in total (six on the line and the same again for taking second on the stage), and we’ll have to wait and see if the effort was worth it as he approaches the next few stages.

Tour de France stage 10 highlights

The peloton had something of an active recovery day, off the back of the rest day proper, as the breakaway was allowed to stay away on stage 10 of the 2016 Tour de France.

Tour de France stage nine highlights

A gruelling day through the Pyrenees of Spain and Andorra enhanced the reputation of Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) as he took victory at the summit finish of stage nine amid torrential rain. The Dutchman attacked the day’s breakaway at the foot of the final climb of Arcalis to finish 38 seconds clear of Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff).

The GC contenders launched a series of attacks to gain advantage over each other, but in the end Chris Froome (Team Sky) protected his race lead. He finished 11th in a select group that also included Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) and Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step).

Tour de France stage eight highlights

Chris Froome (Team Sky) defied expectations by attacking on the descent of the final climb of the day and taking a solo stage victory and the overall lead.

The two-time winner of the Tour attacked atop the Col de Peyresourde 15.5km from the finish after a lapse of concentration from Nairo Quintana (Movistar). He took some serious risks on the decent but it paid off as he now sits on top of the overall standings, 16 seconds ahead of Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) in second and 23 seconds ahead Quintana in sixth.

Tour de France stage six highlights

Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) safely retained his overall lead when there was little change to the general classification. Cavendish regained the green jersey of points classification leader from Peter Sagan (Tinkoff).

Tour de France stage five highlights

Sagan’s team-mate Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) also lost out, dropping around half a minute on the select group of overall contenders. Defending champion Chris Froome (Sky) finished ninth on the stage to retain his fifth place overall. Van Avermaet leads second-placed Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-QuickStep) by a hefty five minutes and 11 seconds.

Tour de France stage four highlights

Marcel Kittel (Etixx-QuickStep) opened his 2016 Tour de France account, taking the bunch sprint win from Bryan Coquard (Direct Energie) in the second photo finish in as many days.

Overall leader Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) finished in third place to retain his position at the top of the general classification and reclaim the points classification lead from Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data).

Tour de France stage three highlights

Cavendish took his second stage victory in the Tour on stage three in Angers on Monday. Cavendish took his 28th career Tour stage win to match the amount amassed by Bernard Hinault, second only to Eddy Merckx as the best of all-time.

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) finished in fourth spot to retain his overall race lead, on a day when the main general classification contenders made it to the line unscathed.

Tour de France stage two highlights

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) took over the yellow jersey from Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) after winning stage two of the 2016 Tour, his first stage victory since the 2013 edition.

GC contender Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) lost 48 seconds having suffered another crash on the stage, while Richie Porte (BMC) lost 1-45 after a mechanical just 4km or so from the finish.

Tour de France stage one highlights

Mark Cavendish (Dimension Data) finally fulfilled a lifelong dream of wearing the prestigious maillot jaune of the Tour de France, after he beat Marcel Kittel (Etixx-Quick Step) to the line on the 188km route to Utah Beach in Northern France.

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